Cedar Trees a Blowin

Well I heard from my mom and my dad did get put into the hospital so please keep him in your prayers!!  I know how much he dislikes being in the hospital so hopefully they can flush his bladder out and he can be sent home soon.  TODAY was Katie's orthopedic appointment at Juntendo Hospital downtown.  We have a friend from church who was going there today for an appointment and she put our card in for us so that made our wait very short.  They don't start calling people into see the doctor until 1:00 so whoever gets there first gets called in first.  So we got there right at 1:00 and were called in quickly.  They always do an x-ray of her back and then we go in and the doctor looks at it and gives us his assessment.  Well there is not any change so that is good and it looks like she is done growing so hopefully no more curving.  This is a huge hospital that specializes in many areas.  When you are done seeing the doctor then you go downstairs to the place where you pay and put in your card and then you wait for your number to appear on a screen and then you go an pay.  The bill came to 1450 yen so about $15.  Can't beat that!!  We didn't eat lunch cause we came straight from school so we decided to go to the Burger King in Ikebukuro.  We had a nice time chowing down on chicken sandwiches.  The hayfever season is in full swing here in Japan and many people are fully decked out in masks, big glasses, hats, gloves anything to keep the pollen off of them.  Tonight Joshua kept saying his eyes were twitching so we are all sneezing and twitching.  We heard on the news last night that it is the cedar trees that are blowin like mad.

Ok, What day is it?  Things always seem to hopping around here.  This morning I got a call from my mom saying that my dad was having complications to a procedure he had done at the urologists office on Monday.  He has been battling bladder cancer for several years now and they were able to burn off his tumors right there in the office on Monday.  But now he is having some troubles so please pray for him.  He is also suffering from emphysema and has trouble breathing so that makes everything difficult for him.  This is one of those times when I really wished I lived closer to my family.  Not being able to be around to help out and just be there is difficult for me.  My dad was so excited about our dog we made a video of the dog doing tricks  for him.  So here it is! Get well soon DAD!!   We Love you and Miss you!!!

Can't remember what day I left off.  Seems we are always so busyyyyy!  We did enjoy last Mon. and Tues. as it was Winter Break for the kids.  Tim and the boys went to Sayama Ski Dome and skied and snowboarded all day while Katie and I went to Diamond City mall and watched a movie and walked around.  I got Katie's cold so we kind of took it easy on Tuesday and Tim went  to teach for me in Machida.  The rest of the week is kinda of a blurr with subbing the 2nd grade class all week.  We did get to celebrate Kayla's birthday with the K-family on Friday and went to eat Shabu-Shabu with them.  It was so delicious. It is the dish where you dip your raw meat into a pan of boiling water and then you dip that cooked meat into a yummy sauce.  We went back to Kornegays house for cake and opening presents.  Saturday I did tons of laundry cause the weather was so sunny and then about noon there was this huge windstorm and the sky was literally a dingy brown as dirt was flying.  Then it started to sprinkle with a few snow flurries mixed in, so I quickly had to bring in all the laundry again.   The woes of having to hang laundry.   It was still really windy on Sunday and many said it was the first sign of spring.  Sunday we had a full house upstairs for Children's Worship time and then we enjoyed some udon (noodle soup) for lunch.  We had a Children's Worship meeting afterwards so left church around 4 and headed to Costco to buy pizza's for youth night at Sayama church.  We made it to Sayama church about 6 and enjoyed pizza's and games and Tim gave the message.  Now it is already Tuesday and today I did about 5 loads of laundry, the forecast said rain but it was sunny most of the day and the clothes dried up pretty good.  I went through several closets today and straightened them up.  We had fish (cod) and miso soup, spinach & bacon and rice for dinner.  Joshua could have eaten everybodies fish.           Here are some pictures!     

You Gotta Love Saturdays!!

Today was one of those beautifully, sunny and clear crisp days.  We didn't have any resposibilities today since basketball is over, so it was one of those clean your rooms, catch-up and kinda of do things we don't normally do.  Tim and the boys washed the car and cleaned up around the house and Katie and I cleaned up inside.  Tim and I took a walk with our new dog, Jack to the video store.  I guess I didn't introduce Jack yet.  Well he is a 3 year old Jack Russell Terrier that we got from a family who will be moving to Hong Kong soon.  He is a really great dog and can do a number of tricks.  He is not a barker and has quickly become a new member of our family.  We rented "Lost" and are now caught up but man is it getting weirder by the minute.  You really have to remember what happened in the past to follow along.  I made a pork pot roast tonight in the oven and we all pigged out! 

Here are some pictures of Jack!